Sapphire Stones

Stiles Stilinski?! Is that you?

"So what happened to him?" Thomas asks later that day. Logan and Chuck decided to keep me company while I'm stuck in my hut, which means that Thomas followed them. More like they dragged Thomas along. We're all sitting in a circle on the floor, trying our best to put the pieces of this very confusing day together.

"Don't look at me. I've only been here for a month." Logan replies, putting his hands up in the air. Thomas looks at Chuck, who just shrugs. Chuck's been here for a while, but no one's ever told him much. 

I can feel their eyes on me, but mine stay on the wooden floor of the hut, refusing to look up. I don't want to talk about it. I can't. I'll break if I do. Ben isn't here anymore to hold me together.

"Venus?" Logan asks, nudging me in the shoulder.

"You know more than all of us." Chuck adds. I sigh, looking up.

"It's called The Changing." I say finally, my voice cracking. "It's what happens when someone gets stung."

"But I thought the Grievers only came out at night." Thomas says, leaning forward slightly. 

"It's rare to see one out during the day, but it's happened before." I reply. Thomas furrows his eyebrows, looking over at Logan. Logan just shrugs, turning his attention back to me. Chuck's too busy staring at the small wooden figure that he's whittling to look up. 

"He said he saw me... that this is all my fault." Thomas mutters, staring at his hands. He picks at a spot on his finger before looking up, meeting my eyes. "How could this be my fault?"

"I'm not a genius, Greenie. I'm practically on house arrest for the time being. It's not like I can go talk to him." I snap, tears flooding my eyes at the last sentence. I look away, holding my breath in an attempt to keep the tears from falling. I can't cry right now. Not in front of Logan and Chuck.

"None of it makes any sense." Chuck says, shaking his head and causing his curls to bounce slightly.

"Well what's gonna happen to him? The Greenie asks. Just as he asks that, the door opens. We all turn our heads to see Gally coming through the door, his large body towering over the four of us.

"Banishment." The Builder says shortly, shooting the Greenie a glare. Anger consumes my body when I see him. All I can think about is that he's the reason why I'm in here. He's the reason why I can't be with my best friend.

"No." I snap.

"What do you mean no?" Gally sneers, his eyes snapping down to me.

"I mean no. You wanna hear it in Spanish? No." I scramble to my feet and walk over to him, glaring up at him. "We can help him. I know we can. Just let me go and I can fix him."

"He's past fixing, Venus. He's been stung. All we can do now is Banish him."

"That's not all we can do! I can help him! I'm sure there's something I can-"

"Stop!" Gally shouts, his wrapped hands curling into fists at his sides. I don't even flinch when I see them. He doesn't scare me. "Just stop, okay?! It's the rules! We have to follow them! They're all we've got!"

"I don't give a shit about the rules! Fuck the rules!" I shout back, completely forgetting that the younger Gladers are sitting right behind me. "There has to be a way we can save him. Just because he's been stung doesn't mean that we can't help him. There has to be a way."

"What's done is done. The Banishment is set for sundown." 

"Where is he?" I ask, my voice filled with anger.